Coroner overhauls collection of opioid data

Ontario is moving to overhaul the way it collects and analyzes data on opioid overdoses and deaths in an effort to get a better understanding of the extent of the problem in the province, officials said Tuesday.

“We are making significant efforts to completely turn our investigative process for opioid and other drug-related deaths on its head,” said Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer.

Police forces and health units across the province have complained about the lack of timely data, and many are struggling to come up with their own methods to track the use of the deadly opioid fentanyl.

The most recent data on opioidrelated deaths in Ontario is from 2015, when 548 people died, according to the Office of the Chief Coroner. Of those, 166 deaths were related to fentanyl.

“We are in the latter stages of developing a new investigative approach to these cases that will provide us with more timely data,” said Huyer, adding his goal is to have those statistics made public within months, not years.

In British Columbia, which has been the epicentre of the opioid crisis, the Coroners Service releases monthly reports on opioidrelated deaths.

Under the new system, Ontario’s coroners will expand the amount of data they collect earlier in the process, said Huyer.

“The current investigative process doesn’t allow identification of opioid-related deaths, or drugrelated deaths, at the front end, in our way of managing the cases,” he said. “Our whole process means we determine that it’s an opioidrelated death ... many months after the death has actually occurred.”

At the moment, the coroner’s office has to search through its files to create statistics on overdose deaths, but under the new system that information will be collected and standardized so it can be analyzed more quickly, Huyer said.

We determine that it’s an opioid-related death ... many months after the death has actually occurred